Big Ben accused of sexual assault

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

I'm trying not to read too much of this thread because of the "He's evil/she's crazy" aspects, so I don't know if this has been posted:

“The victim is the only one who can do that,” Duffy told The Associated Press. “Unless there was a third party that actually witnessed the incident, which according to the civil case, was not the case here,” she said.

The 31-year-old woman who was working as a VIP host at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe at the time has filed a lawsuit saying Roethlisberger raped her in a hotel penthouse across the street from the golf course, a claim he vehemently denies.

The woman, a native of Canada who had worked at Harrah’s since 2003, never went to the authorities with her story, and it’s unclear why she decided to file the lawsuit seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars a full year later.

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Deputy: No plans to investigate Roethlisberger - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Does anyone else think this story sounds a little suspect? An executive with no known maintenance skills takes it upon herself to fix a television and sound system at a world class hotel? Something tells me if there is a celebrity like Ben Roethlisberger complaining about a technical problem, a maintenance guy will be arriving shortly. If anyone is in doubt, next time you are at a nice hotel, call the front desk and see who they send to the room.

My strong suspicion is they did have relations, and maybe she was unsure at the time or later regretted it. It's not uncommon for a man or woman to have guilt after making an impulsive decision. My basis for this is that civil lawsuits can be really expensive, and in this case this woman knows her life will be forever changed... it would be pointless to bring a lawsuit if there are no witnesses and no sex. There must have been sex, consensual or not. Ben's lawyer did not deny that anything occurred, just that Ben did not do anything wrong (legally.)

The bigger issue is the possibility that evidence was destroyed... then we are talking about some serious liability, especially if BR was involved in this conspiracy.

Criminal charges are really difficult to prove for rape. 12 jurors all must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt; since Ben does not have a past history of sexual assault, it's basically his word vs. her word.... The fact she did not bring criminal charges forward is irrelevant. We don't know how long this has been going on... she may have tried to settle this out of court for the last year.

Fortunately there was a second cameraman shooting the action, and he promptly submitted the tape to Bill Belichick to help with the next gameplan =).

Lighten up, it's a joke =)

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Deus Irae said:

I'm trying not to read too much of this thread because of the "He's evil/she's crazy" aspects, so I don't know if this has been posted:



Deputy: No plans to investigate Roethlisberger - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

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I don't see the relevancy of that quote. We've established the fact that a large percentage of sexual assault cases never see a criminal report filed. The entire premise of the woman's suit is that she was dissuaded from bringing the accusation to light, thus the fact that there is no criminal case should - even more so - have no bearing on whether she is taken seriously.

And in a practical sense, what good does filing a criminal case do for the plaintiff? The likelihood of Big Ben facing any repercussions in a criminal sense is slim to none given his celebrity & the greater burden of proof a criminal court requires.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

"The woman, a native of Canada"

Canadians again. Depriving our young men of essential bodily fluids.

On the factual side, we've learned in this thread why the 1 year wait, to 'catch' Rthlsbrgr in Nevada to serve him the writ rather than go to fruitless trial in Steeler Country.

We've learned that her lawyer is a major law firm type with a reputation, not some newbie desperate for any score.

Herr Komissioner's intrusion into this will not help resolve matters.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

BradyManny2344 said:

I don't see the relevancy of that quote. We've established the fact that a large percentage of sexual assault cases never see a criminal report filed. The entire premise of the woman's suit is that she was dissuaded from bringing the accusation to light, thus the fact that there is no criminal case should - even more so - have no bearing on whether she is taken seriously.

And in a practical sense, what good does filing a criminal case do for the plaintiff? The likelihood of Big Ben facing any repercussions in a criminal sense is slim to none given his celebrity & the greater burden of proof a criminal court requires.

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I saw the article posted on another board and brought it here. I quoted part of the story, nothing more. The only reason I quoted that part is because the police noted that the woman hadn't filed a complaint and I wasn't sure if that was news to people reading this thread.

As I said, I'm not really following this thread. There's just way too much opportunity for stupidity on multiple issues.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Does anyone else think this story sounds a little suspect? An executive with no known maintenance skills takes it upon herself to fix a television and sound system at a world class hotel? Something tells me if there is a celebrity like Ben Roethlisberger complaining about a technical problem, a maintenance guy will be arriving shortly. If anyone is in doubt, next time you are at a nice hotel, call the front desk and see who they send to the room.

Just to be clear, she first of all said there was no problem with the TV, as she just turned it on and it worked. Secondly, she claims that Ben used the broken TV as a pretense, not that it was actually broken. In other words, the TV wasn't broken in any case so Ben wouldn't have called a maintenance person whether or not this woman is telling the truth.

Ben's lawyer did not deny that anything occurred, just that Ben did not do anything wrong (legally.)

He did say that this woman was the last woman Ben would ever rape. Personally I find the lawyer's claim incredibly hard to believe.

The bigger issue is the possibility that evidence was destroyed... then we are talking about some serious liability, especially if BR was involved in this conspiracy.

Criminal charges are really difficult to prove for rape. 12 jurors all must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt; since Ben does not have a past history of sexual assault, it's basically his word vs. her word.... The fact she did not bring criminal charges forward is irrelevant. We don't know how long this has been going on... she may have tried to settle this out of court for the last year.

The Tom Curran article explains why this has been held up for a year. Ben had to be served papers to appear in Nevada. This was his first time back in Nevada.

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Either way, none of what's been reported so far points to either of them telling the truth.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Deus Irae said:

I saw the article posted on another board and brought it here. I quoted part of the story, nothing more. The only reason I quoted that part is because the police noted that the woman hadn't filed a complaint and I wasn't sure if that was news to people reading this thread.

As I said, I'm not really following this thread. There's just way too much opportunity for stupidity on multiple issues.

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Do police always accept complaints? I wonder. I know of a recent case at UConn where a student complained about an athlete's sexual assault, and the police refused to file the complaint and investigate.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

I suspect this isn't a case of legitimate I-was-raped-and-afraid-to-come-forward-for-X-years, but I can tell you one thing: whether he ends up being guilty in a court of law or not, it feels damn good to be able to call him Ben Rapelisberger to my boss, who UNCEASINGLY reminds me of Belicheat and the Cheatriots.

Sighhhhhhhhh...

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

jmt57 said:

In a related note, I went to a Steeler fan forum, curious to see what their reaction was to this story. Expecting to probably find a lot of "Ben's innocent, she's a gold digger" comments, instead most of the talk quickly turned to the Pats.

How the NFL's personal conduct might apply to Ben - Steelers Fever Forums

I don't know what to think, other than "can you say "obsessed"?

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Man oh man.

I don't like to use the term "classless", but those people are like school in summertime. How in the sam hle does this lawsuit give the Patriots extra draft picks? What are they talking about?

And the idea that Roger Goodell loves the Pats? Where did THAT come from?

On a related note, on the drive home tonight I was listening to Dan Patrick, who was asking people to call in and weigh in on whether or not the lawsuit should be considered newsworthy. This one total tool came on (why the screeners even let this guy on the air is beyond me) and says, "I'm here to vote for not news because... (pause)... how many, how many Super Bowls has Pittsburgh won in the last 10 years?"

Dan said, "Well what's that got to do with it?"

The guy continues, "Because Pittsburgh... Pittsburgh... as a, as a Pittsburgher..." followed by another long pause, after which Dan cut the guy off.

What a TOOL.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Too many posts to read.

I have investigated a few sexual assaults, which are the hardest cases to investigate. Her word against his and it was pointed out that there is always a lack of evidence.


This should have gone the criminal route and not civil. You go civil IE OJ Simpson case when the victim feels that justice was not done in the criminal side.

I don't see this case going any where, in civil cases there are alot more steps than in a criminal case. The victim filed a complaint which has to list 3 things. 1) Jurisdiction 2) cause of action 3) relief.

Big Ben's lawyer will file a responce called the answer, which Big Ben can admit or deny the claim. Big Ben's lawyer will file a motion to strike.

Both sides have to share Discovery.

Before it would go in front of a jury they would depose both Big Ben and the alleged vicitm. I have been deposed once becasue I was the first officer on the scene to a traffic accident with major injuries to one of the parties. You don't know how much this part of the process sucks. I was in this confrence room with a bunch of lawyers and a court reporter. They asked me every question from where I grew up to where I went to high school to what I did in the military when I was in. This took over 4 hours. Also I have been on the stand a ton of times and know how to do this and know when I am trying to be set up. A person who does not have any experience will fall into the traps.

I have a feeling that this alleged victim would get grilled in this porcess and the case would not go beyound this point. Also recording in the depostion can be used during the trial. The victim says something different than what she said while being deposed she will be impeached and case tossed.

In a civil trial it will only take 9 instead of all 12 in a criminal case.

Good Luck Lady!!!

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

TrueBeliever said:

Man oh man.

I don't like to use the term "classless", but those people are like school in summertime. How in the sam hle does this lawsuit give the Patriots extra draft picks? What are they talking about?

And the idea that Roger Goodell loves the Pats? Where did THAT come from?

On a related note, on the drive home tonight I was listening to Dan Patrick, who was asking people to call in and weigh in on whether or not the lawsuit should be considered newsworthy. This one total tool came on (why the screeners even let this guy on the air is beyond me) and says, "I'm here to vote for not news because... (pause)... how many, how many Super Bowls has Pittsburgh won in the last 10 years?"

Dan said, "Well what's that got to do with it?"

The guy continues, "Because Pittsburgh... Pittsburgh... as a, as a Pittsburgher..." followed by another long pause, after which Dan cut the guy off.

What a TOOL.

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I don't think that particular forum is truly indicative of Pittsburgh Steelers fans.

At least I hope not.

I used to post there, as I happen to enjoy getting different perspective's from different football fans - but the level of bile and hatred that 'Spygate' initiated was truly something to behold.

I'm afraid 90% of the posters on the forum are mentally unbalanced - those that have enough actual brain cells to balance that is.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

PATS68 said:

Too many posts to read.

I have investigated a few sexual assaults, which are the hardest cases to investigate. Her word against his and it was pointed out that there is always a lack of evidence.


This should have gone the criminal route and not civil. You go civil IE OJ Simpson case when the victim feels that justice was not done in the criminal side.

I don't see this case going any where, in civil cases there are alot more steps than in a criminal case. The victim filed a complaint which has to list 3 things. 1) Jurisdiction 2) cause of action 3) relief.

Big Ben's lawyer will file a responce called the answer, which Big Ben can admit or deny the claim. Big Ben's lawyer will file a motion to strike.

Both sides have to share Discovery.

Before it would go in front of a jury they would depose both Big Ben and the alleged vicitm. I have been deposed once becasue I was the first officer on the scene to a traffic accident with major injuries to one of the parties. You don't know how much this part of the process sucks. I was in this confrence room with a bunch of lawyers and a court reporter. They asked me every question from where I grew up to where I went to high school to what I did in the military when I was in. This took over 4 hours. Also I have been on the stand a ton of times and know how to do this and know when I am trying to be set up. A person who does not have any experience will fall into the traps.

I have a feeling that this alleged victim would get grilled in this porcess and the case would not go beyound this point. Also recording in the depostion can be used during the trial. The victim says something different than what she said while being deposed she will be impeached and case tossed.

In a civil trial it will only take 9 instead of all 12 in a criminal case.

Good Luck Lady!!!

Click to expand...

I have been deposed as well, and I can also attest that it completely and utterly sucks. I'd like to think that it was pretty clear that I was telling the truth and had nothing to hide (I was one of several witnesses), but the lawyers still pretty much went out of their ways to make the process as difficult as possible.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Well, ESPN has apparently decided that AP is worth printing, since they've skipped right over reporting the initial case to report "No criminal look at Roethlisberger allegations" on the front page.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

PATS68 said:

Too many posts to read.

I have investigated a few sexual assaults, which are the hardest cases to investigate. Her word against his and it was pointed out that there is always a lack of evidence.


This should have gone the criminal route and not civil. You go civil IE OJ Simpson case when the victim feels that justice was not done in the criminal side.

I don't see this case going any where, in civil cases there are alot more steps than in a criminal case. The victim filed a complaint which has to list 3 things. 1) Jurisdiction 2) cause of action 3) relief.

Big Ben's lawyer will file a responce called the answer, which Big Ben can admit or deny the claim. Big Ben's lawyer will file a motion to strike.

Both sides have to share Discovery.

Before it would go in front of a jury they would depose both Big Ben and the alleged vicitm. I have been deposed once becasue I was the first officer on the scene to a traffic accident with major injuries to one of the parties. You don't know how much this part of the process sucks. I was in this confrence room with a bunch of lawyers and a court reporter. They asked me every question from where I grew up to where I went to high school to what I did in the military when I was in. This took over 4 hours. Also I have been on the stand a ton of times and know how to do this and know when I am trying to be set up. A person who does not have any experience will fall into the traps.

I have a feeling that this alleged victim would get grilled in this porcess and the case would not go beyound this point. Also recording in the depostion can be used during the trial. The victim says something different than what she said while being deposed she will be impeached and case tossed.

In a civil trial it will only take 9 instead of all 12 in a criminal case.

Good Luck Lady!!!

Click to expand...

No offense officer, but I get a kick out of those who start out saying too many posts to read but...

Florio had a pretty good summation of what happens in a civil case, as well as why one was filed including a year after the fact in this case, in a link I posted earlier. In that he also said that discovery is the point at which most celebrities settle because for them it's the first time they are not in control of a situation, they can't make the questions stop. Ditto corporations. She is suing not just Ben but some Harrah's employees for harassing her into not persuing charges and for then trying to tamper with evidence and defame her in the process. And I believe Ben has actually already admitted to some sort of consentual relationship, as did Kobe... But you wouldn't necessarily know any of that since couldn't be bothered to read the thread (or apparently the reports) before weighing in...

FWIW the preponderence of evidence and 9 vs. 12 jurors weights heavily in the plantiff's favor in civil cases. As will the jurisdiction...

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

livinginthe past said:

I don't think that particular forum is truly indicative of Pittsburgh Steelers fans.

At least I hope not.

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I hope not as well.

In overall deference to the topic at hand, I'd like to think that if this happened to Brady I could look at it a little more objectively. When that woman filed for a restraining order against Moss last year, I tried to keep an open mind. This was, after all, a guy who used a car to assault a traffic cop a few years ago. In time however it became clear that the "victim's" story didn't add up. These clowns, on the other hand, are calling her all sorts of names and going straight to "She's a dirty skank whore out for money." I'd like to know more facts before forming an opinion.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

BradyFTW! said:

Well, ESPN has apparently decided that AP is worth printing, since they've skipped right over reporting the initial case to report "No criminal look at Roethlisberger allegations" on the front page.

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Wow.

And people think that (depending on your point of view) either FOX or NBC give slanted viewpoints on news stories. Disney/abc/espn is in a league of it's own when it comes to spinning a story.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

jmt57 said:

In a related note, I went to a Steeler fan forum, curious to see what their reaction was to this story. Expecting to probably find a lot of "Ben's innocent, she's a gold digger" comments, instead most of the talk quickly turned to the Pats.

How the NFL's personal conduct might apply to Ben - Steelers Fever Forums

I don't know what to think, other than "can you say "obsessed"?

Click to expand...

I've always skeptical when a fan of another team comes to this board, starts an argument, and then declares that all the posters here are blind homers and poster on their "home" board are much more objective.

Reading thread that reinforces my belief that people on other boards are just as biased towards their own team as Patriots fans are. And, while there some "Let's wait and see" sentiments, there were a lot of comments that were less objective than you might find here.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Deus Irae said:

Big Ben should counter-sue for defamation if he's sure the charges are false.

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I agree 100%.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

livinginthe past said:

I don't think that particular forum is truly indicative of Pittsburgh Steelers fans.

At least I hope not.

I used to post there, as I happen to enjoy getting different perspective's from different football fans - but the level of bile and hatred that 'Spygate' initiated was truly something to behold.

I'm afraid 90% of the posters on the forum are mentally unbalanced - those that have enough actual brain cells to balance that is.

Click to expand...

Unbalanced...well yeah...ok, I'll give you that one. I am a little off.

I ripped Ben apart when I first read this story over there, was told I needed to calm down. Which, just fired me up more and I got into it with a couple other people over there too.

I still haven't heard officially that he admits sex with this girl at all. I know its reported that he said he did, but as for his lawyer or him actually being quoted, I can't find that.

Now if he did, invite this Hotel Staff Member into his room for sex, that was a stupid move. Never sleep with the Staff, especially when they are On The Clock. To cover her arse, she may need to make up a story as to why she was in a High Profile Celebrities room while earning her paycheck. I'm sure there is a policy for fraternization with Hotel Guests that could have gotten her fired had she been found to have had consensual sexual relations with a guest while on the clock. He's dumb for putting any staff member into a situation where they have to then in turn lie to their employer. You can't tell your boss, "Yeah, I was fkcing some star on the 17th floor, sorry I missed your call". Its just dumb for staff and guests to inter mingle and opens a pandora box of problems.

DumbArse Ben. Kid needs a Freaking Life Coach asap.

As for her allegations, I don't want to believe them. At all. I hope she's just nutty, and he counter sues for defemation.

Re: OT: Big Ben Accused of Sexual Assault

Deus Irae said:

Big Ben should counter-sue for defamation if he's sure the charges are false.

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Yes, but he'd probably have to acknowledge that - at the very least - there was a sexual relationship between the two of them, so, like other athletes, he'll deny & fight it for as long as he can, rather than go on the offensive.

There's also the possibility that she's telling the truth. I would tend to give most people in Big Ben's situation the benefit of the doubt - the average person, has many times, tried to take advantage of an athlete. However, we've also seen how athletes take advantage of the average person, most particularly when it comes to a male athlete and a female, and most specifically, in regards to sex. Roethlisberger seems like a complete sleazebag, so I wouldn't put her story out of the realm of possibilities.